Dental appliance



Aug. 15, 1933. s. FREED 1,922,238

DENTAL APPLIANCE Filed June 6, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 3.

INVENTOR:

I SAMUEL FREED ATTORNEY.

Aug. 15, 1933. s. FREED DENTAL APPLIANCE Filed June 6. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

INVENTOR: SAMUEL FREED ATTORNEY.

Aug. 15, 1933. s, FREED DENTAL APPLIANCE Filed June 6, 1931 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 V F IG. 6.

:NVENTO FREED.

SAMUEL.

ATTO R N E Y.

Patented Aug. 15, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates'to dental appliances and more particularly to a combined power-driven rotary tooth brush, and mouth rinser.

Among the objects of the invention is to thoroughly brush and clean teeth and the spaces between, with a minimum of effort.

Another object is to rinse and cleanse the mouth with an antiseptic solution during the brushing operation thus effectively preventing and correcting mouth and gum infection.

Another object is to secure rotation of the brush in two directions to insure the brush penetrating and scouring all tooth surfaces, crevices and spaces between the teeth.

A further object is to eliminate all possibility 01' the brush cutting the tissues of the oral cavity.

A still further object is to utilize water power, derived from any convenient water service line, for driving the brush. This dispenses with the necessity of an electric motor and the attendant danger of a short circuit through the damp brush and the body of the user.

Other objects and advantages appear as the description progresses.

In the following description and the accompanying drawings the invention is disclosed in its present preferred form. It is to be understood, however, that it is not limited to this form, because it may be embodied in other forms within the purview of the claims following the description.

In the accompanying three sheets of drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a tooth brush and holder constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the water turbine for driving the same.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the brush and its protective shield detached from the holder.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the water turbine and the controlling valves for the same.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the rotary tooth brush and its holder.

Fig. 6 is a section view, taken on the line VI-VI in Fig. 4, and showing one of the pair of water wheels in the turbine.

Fig. '7 is a similar view, taken on the line VII- VII in Fig. 4, and showing the other opposite water wheel of the turbine.

The valve 5 is provided with the large upper 6 port 5' registering with the hollow inlet nipple 5 to admit water into the interior of the valve. The lower side of the valve 5 has two series of longitudinally arranged orifices 11--l2-13, 14 1516 drilled therethrough.

0 The center of the housing is recessed to form 7 the turbine chamber 17, the open side of which is closed by the threaded cover 18. The disk 19 is rigidly mounted in the chamber 1'1 on the rotatable shaft 20, the ends of which are journaled in the housing 1;and the cover 18. The water wheels 21, 22 areintegral with the disk 19 and consist of the angular vanes 23-23, 24--24. The top of the chamber 17 has the openings 25, 26 opposite the water wheels 21, 22. The orifices 11--1213, 14.-15--16 are adapted to register with the openings 25, 26 to direct the jets of water 1112'13', 14'15'16 against the respective vanes of the water wheels. It is to be noted that the two series of orifices 1l--12-13, 141516 are so located on the circumference of the valve that only one series is brought into register with the openings 25-26 at a time.

The vanes oi: the two water wheels are disposed in opposite directions. Thus, the valve 5 may be adjusted to bring either of the two series of orifices into alignment with the openings 25 or 26 to operate one of the water wheels, driving the turbine in either of two directions.

The hollow water wheels 21-22 have the holes 27, 28 drilled therethrough at the base of each of the vanes 23, 24. A portion of the jets of water striking the vanes is thus deflected through the holes 27, 28 into the interior of the wheel and escapes by centrifugal force through the lower holes 2'7, 28'. The outer sides of the water wheels are provided with the annular rims 2930 to prevent the jets of water being dispersed in the sides of the chamber 17.

The turbine discharges through the outlet 31 leading downward from the chamber 17 and flowing into any suitable Waste pipe. The outlet 31 is provided with the central bafile plate 32 to prevent the formation of a retarding gyrating stream of water at the peripheries of the water wheels.

The pinion 33 is mounted on the end of the shaft 20 outside the housing 1 and meshes with the gear 34. This gear is mounted on the shaft 35, the end of which is journaled in the housing 1. The cover 36 encloses the gears 33, 34 and is fixed to the housing by the screws 36'.

The shaft 35 is connected to the flexible helical shaft 3'7 by the tubular link 38. The cover 36 is provided with the boss 39 externally threaded to engage the end of the tube 40 which encloses the link 38. The end of the tube 40 is preferably formed into a hexagon to facilitate screwing of the tube on the boss 39. The helical shaft 37 extends within the conveniently long flexible rubber and fabric conduit 41. The end of the conduit is fixed to the coupling 42 screwed into the outer end of the tube 40.

The opposite end of the conduit is fixed to a similar coupling 43 which is threaded in the tube 44. This tube is reduced in diameter at 45 and telescoped into the hollow holder 46. The pin 4'! extends through one side of the holder 46 and engages the circular notch 48 in the neck 45 and maintains the holder 46 in fixed longitudinal position on the tube. However, the circular notch permits rotary movement of the holder for convenience in handling the appliance.

The tooth brush is preferably spiral and formed in the conventional manner by twisting the wires 49 together to provide a suitable mounting for the bristles 50. The contour of the brush should be convex as shown, but this is not essential.

The brush is provided with the shield 51 formed of celluloid or similar material and recessed at 52 to receive the tooth brush. The ends of the wires 49 are fixed in the bushings 53-54 mounted in bearings at each end of the recess 52. The square stub shaft 55 is integral with the bushing 54 and extends through the hollow neck 56 of the shield. The neck 56 is adapted to telescope within the holder 46 to hold the tooth brush rigid' with the holder. The stub shaft engages a square slot in the end of the shaft 57 which is fixed to the helical shaft 37 to drive the tooth brush.

The manually operated globular valve 58 is continually supplied with water in either of the two operative positions of the control valve 5 as shown in Figs. 5 and 'l.

The tube 61 is fixed to the valve 58 by the nut 61 and is bent back upon itself to form a depending U extending into the glass bottle 62. The threaded cover 63 of the bottle is fixed to the two sections of tubing forming the U near their upper ends to support and hermetically seal the bottle. The lower portion of the U is submerged in any desirable mouth wash which fills the bottle up to the level 64. The bottom horizontal portion of the U tubing is cut to form the small nozzle 65 discharging into the larger aspirator 66. Thus, the water traveling at high velocity through the U tube 61 aspirates the antiseptic at 66 and forms an evenly diluted solution therewith.

The rubber tube 67 is telescoped on the end of the tube 61 and extends alongside the flexible conduit 41 and is clamped thereto. The opposite end of the rubber tube snugly engages the nipple 68 of the bush button valve 69 screwed in the holder 46. The hole 70 extends through the holder and communicates with the end of the valve 69. The tube 71 is fixed in the celluloid shield 51 and extends longitudinally therefrom so that its end telescopes within the end of the hole 70 in the holder. The outlet hole 72 is bored in the shield 51 to communicate with the end of the tube '71 and discharges into the brush recess 52. I

The invention operates substantially as follows: The hose 4 is connected to a water service line through the conventional faucet valve (not shown). This valve is manually opened and water enters the hose under the usual pressure andfiows through the inlet 2 and the port 5' into the interior of the control valve 5. The operating handle 8 is then manually adjusted to bring the valve 5 into the position shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 6. The orifices 111213 are thus aligned with the holes 25.

The water under pressure in the interior of the valve 5 escapes through the orifices forming the jets 1112'--13' which are forcibly projected against the vanes 23 of the water wheel 21. The water wheel is thus rapidly rotated. The jets 11-12'13 are deflected through the holes 2'727 after strikingthe vanes 23 and pass out of the turbine through the outlet 31. The rotation of the water wheel rotates the pinion 33 and drives the gear 34, thus turning the flexible spring shaft 37.

The tooth brush 50 is driven by the spring 37 through the spline connection 55, 57. The speed of the tooth brush is preferably maintained at about 200 R.P.M. to produce the maximum cleaning efliciency without injury to the tissues of the gums. This speed may be regulated by adjustment of the faucet valve in the water service line, thus varying the amount of water admitte to the turbine in the housing 1.

A suitable cleaning agent such as the usual tooth powder may be applied to the brush 50 before it is inserted in the mouth to facilitate the whitening and polishing of the teeth.

The rotating bristles of the spiral brush rub against the teeth in vertical planes, thus insuring adequate cleaning of the interstices between the teeth. If desired, the rotation of the brush may be supplemented by a manual horizontal movement of the brush against the teeth to increase the effectiveness of the operation of the appliance.

To dislodge the more firmly wedged particles of food between the teeth, and for cleaning the upper and lower teeth, the brush may be rotated in the opposite direction. This is accomplished by manually moving the handle 8 to assume the position shown in Fig. 7. The orifices 1112-13 are thus moved out of alignment with the holes 25, rendering the water wheel 21 inoperative. This movement brings the orifices 14-15-46 into register with the holes 26, directing the jets 14'15'16' against the vanes 24 of the water wheel 22.

As has been hereinbefore observed, the vanes 24 of the water wheel are disposed in the opposite direction to the vanes 23 of the water wheel 21. The operation of the water wheel 22 therefore rotates the tooth brush in the reverse direction from that produced by the operation of thewheel 21.

When desired, an antiseptic mouth wash may be provided by manually opening the valve 58. Water then flows from the interior of the valve 5 through the port 59 or 60 and passes through the U tube 61 to the rubber tubing 67. At 66 in the U tube antiseptic is aspirated from the bottle 62 and mixes with the water in the U tube to form a solution.

The push button valve 69 is opened by the user when desired. When the valve 69 is open the solution passes through the holes 70'72 and is forcibly directed against the rotating brush 50. The rotation of the brush creates a centrifugal force distributing the solution within the oral cavity.

It is to be noted that closing the push button valve 69 while the valve 61 is still open does not flood the hermetically sealed container 62. Only a small quantity of water escapes from the nozzle 65 before the air pressure above the level 64 equals the static head pressure of the water, preventing further entrance of water into the bottle.

For sanitary reasons, it is desirable to provide an individual tooth brush 50 and celluloid shield 51 for each user of the appliance. These are easily detached from the holder 46 as shown in Fig. 3 by pulling the neck 56 out of the tubular holder. The shields 51 may be distinctively colored to facilitate identification where several are stored together.

Having thus described this invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A dental appliance including a hollow holder, a shield mounted on said holder, a rotary tooth brush having radial bristles in said shield, motor means for driving said tooth brush, and a water nozzle within said shield adapted to discharge a water jet against the periphery of said brush and parallel with the axis thereof.

SAMUEL FREED. 

